(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Already overwhelmed by the backlash to a flood of illegal aliens besieging New York, the state’s sanctuary city-embracing governor announced a work program that critics contend will siphon jobs from New Yorkers.
Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the program in a letter to President Joe Biden, and made an official request that the federal government give work authorization to the 100,000 illegal immigrants that entered the state, despite over 380,000 New York citizens in the midst of unemployment, according to the Post Millennial.
The city’s unemployment rate hit 5.3% in July, when the national rate sat at 3.5%.
Hochul also implemented a program prohibiting labor investigations into illegal immigrants in July, setting the stage to further bolster the new jobs program and “directed the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) to help connect asylum seekers to employment opportunities so they can begin working immediately after obtaining federal work authorization.”
In her haste to employ illegal immigrants, Hochul also dedicated $20 million in public funds to speed up paperwork filing for 30,000 illegal migrants.
At this point, the state had already used $1.5 billion to set up shelters, house migrants in fancy hotels, provide healthcare and more. New York officials made several requests for federal aid in attempts to support the average of 10,000 migrants pouring into New York City every month.
Hochul requested additional federal funding in this letter, on top of the $145 million already sent to the state. NYC Democrat Mayor Eric Adams estimated that the crisis would cost $12 billion total.
The federal government also sent temporary shelters to alleviate some strain from the NYC shelter system, which opened 200 shelters to care for 58,000 migrants in response to the surge.
The governor also requested the Biden administration cover the cost of the National Guard stationed throughout the state, which racked up a bill approximately $22 million each month to the state.
Hochul concluded the letter with a swipe at Biden’s bungled border, reminding that “It is the federal government’s direct responsibility to manage and of control the nation’s borders.”